[vcf-midatlantic] Xerox Wildflowers - Dandelions and Daybreaks

[Adam Michlin]

Here's my favorite disconnect video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-Tl8v9euJE

Internal Xerox sales video comparing, I believe, the Star to a Mac and 
an IBM PC.

And people who haven't used a Star don't realize how flawed that 
original GUI was. I'm sure most of us have seen:

https://www.folklore.org/

But, if you haven't, prepare to spend some serious time reading about 
the early days of the Macintosh. So many things people assume were 
invented by Xerox were most certainly not.

On 8/17/2020 7:11 PM, Tony Bogan wrote:
> While we know better, I still find it amusing that people believe that jobs was “visiting” PARC, or given a “tour,” saw the Alto/Star/whatever machine running the GUI, ran back to Apple and “stole” Xerox’s ideas and created the Mac.
>
> I find it amusing because there is ample evidence to prove no such thing ever happened, in reality it was a business deal that in essence traded Apple stock for use of Xerox IP, but I guess the conspiracy sites are more fun to read.
>
> Tony
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Aug 17, 2020, at 4:49 PM, Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
>>
>> Yes, exactly. They were focused on advanced document processing systems and
>> couldn’t even hold onto that market, even with such advanced tech.
>>
>>> On Mon, Aug 17, 2020 at 4:46 PM Adam Michlin <amichlin at swerlin.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> My father, who was working at Exxon at the time, got special permission
>>>
>>> through his boss to visit PARC some time, he thinks, between 78-82...
>>>
>>> not entirely sure. He is pretty certain it was before Jobs visited, but
>>>
>>> he can't be sure. Apparently he had to all but sign his first born away
>>>
>>> (*phew*) that he wouldn't leak any secrets.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> What he is crystal clear on is that he was shown the Alto and the Dorado
>>>
>>> and not the Star and that Xerox had no commericial products of the GUI
>>>
>>> computer ilk. He would later purchase a Star as part of responsibilities
>>>
>>> at Exxon, probably around 1983.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> As to how Xerox could have dropped the ball.. it is more like how could
>>>
>>> they not have dropped the ball. They were a *copier* company and they
>>>
>>> were making money hand over fist selling copiers. This new fangled
>>>
>>> computer business? Meh. They also lost out on the personal laser printer
>>>
>>> and Ethernet (double doh!).
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> On 8/17/2020 3:07 PM, Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Turns out it was Altos. The Star was the commercialized successor to the
>>>> Alto.